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CNN Live Event/Special

Pentagon Spokesman Says Detained Servicemen Are Treated Well

Aired April 10, 2001 - 13:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LOU WATERS, CNN ANCHOR: Now, we're heading to the Pentagon, the daily briefing. Admiral Craig Quigley is at the podium, let's hear what he has to say.

REAR ADMIRAL CRAIG QUIGLEY, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: ... come to a comprehensive answer to your question, which is really: How did this collision occur?

And today, we cannot say with any degree of confidence -- as you hear little pieces of this and that starting to come out on an hourly basis, it seems, from somewhere in the building -- I have no confidence that that presents a comprehensive picture of any sort of meaningful detail of the circumstances that surrounded the collision.

We will do this the right way, and the right way is to have a very methodical talk with the air crew, those in the best position to understand and observe first hand, of course, what happened, after they are released.

Yes?

QUESTION: Craig, General Sealock and others have had an opportunity to meet with the crew members five times now, and most of those, now, apparently without the Chinese. By your statement, are you indicating that the room is bugged, that we haven't had forthright discussions in these meetings? We haven't been able to learn anything from them?

QUIGLEY: No, I think the discussions we have had between General Sealock and the crew members over the past several days have been very welcome and very honest. What they aren't is a comprehensive, systematic way to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the collision. And whatever small details may be discussed there -- for starters, this is not the way to release that, in a piecemeal way.

His discussions are sometimes involving sensitive personal information amongst the crew members that they wish to convey to their families and loved ones back home, and sometimes it's technical information. But what it isn't is comprehensive and systematic.

And i don't think it's helpful to release or discuss any small pieces of that in isolation. What you need to do is a much more holistic approach to understanding the circumstances surrounding the collision.

QUESTION: Can we go back again to exactly what it is? A little more detail. You said some of it's sensitive information, some of it's -- can you sort of give us a range of the subjects they've been discussing?

QUIGLEY: I think General Sealock and his discussions at his press conferences have covered that quite thoroughly, and I can go back and recap, but I would refer you to his own words. Those are the details that he feels comfortable in releasing, and I will stick with those.

QUESTION: Admiral, do you have anything on China's apparent plans to conduct a nuclear weapons test in Xinjiang?

QUIGLEY: No, I'm sorry, I don't have anything for you on that. Whatever information we would have on that would be in the intelligence channels, and I cannot discuss that.

QUESTION: Craig, what's the Pentagon's classification of these 24 Americans now?

QUIGLEY: Detainees.

QUESTION: And it's not approaching hostages? Ten days now into this, detainees is the official...

QUIGLEY: No, I don't think so. I think that's the correct term. Hostages, to me, says a couple of things that we don't see.

You don't have access to hostages. They are kept from you. And in the case of our air crew, we have had several -- five, now -- meetings with the air crew over a period of days. We think that's great. We hope that that will continue and even be more often, but it's not a situation you would see with a hostage situation.

You also don't see hostages generally being treated very well, and our 24 air crew are being treated very well by the Chinese.

So the term that we think is appropriate is detainees.

QUESTION: And how would you respond to members of Congress who are using the word "hostage" right now?

QUIGLEY: Well, I guess I would try to convince them that the word "detainee" is more appropriate.

We also -- let me throw one other thing in. If a person is detained, if a military person is detained, that allows us, the Department of Defense and their parent service, to carry out some financial and personal items of business that they may wish to want accomplished on their behalf. And again, they can relay this through General Sealock -- things like financial details, powers of attorney, military allotments, things of that sort, that have a direct impact on the individuals. Everybody's circumstance is different, but an individual may have a real need to convey a change in some sort of a financial arrangement, given their desire to do so. By declaring them as detainees, that puts them in a particular legal category, and that would empower the parent service then to take those actions on their behalf.

QUESTION: Would you dispute the term "prisoner," and do the financial transactions include an extension of tax filing?

QUIGLEY: Say that again, I'm sorry?

QUESTION: Prisoner, do you have the same problems with using the word "prisoner" that you do with hostage?

QUIGLEY: Yes.

QUESTION: For what reasons?

QUIGLEY: Again, I don't think the terms apply. I think of a prisoner, I think of somebody behind bars. I think of someone charged with a crime. Those circumstances are not present.

QUESTION: And are they going to be given an extension to file their taxes?

QUIGLEY: One of the benefits of being declared a detainee is an automatic extension of your income tax filing date, should that occur. We are hopeful that they would be released before that's an issue.

QUESTION: Is the United States aware of any evidence that the Chinese are dismantling anything from the exterior of the plane?

QUIGLEY: No. I'm sure you're referring to the image -- space imaging, I believe. There was a commercial imaging firm with a photographic satellite in orbit yesterday. I've seen the image that you're referring to, and there's an apparent shading or something, it looks like, on the starboard side of the aircraft. I can't explain the shading, but from a variety of sources, we have no such indication that there's some sort of disassembly of the airplane taking place at that part of the plane.

WATERS: Admiral Craig Quigley at the Pentagon, telling us once again that the crew from the EP-3 surveillance plane is being treated well.

They should be referred to as detainees. The took exception with the members of Congress, who say they are inclined to begin calling them hostages. Quigley said that he would discourage that.

He was remarking on one Pentagon official telling CNN that the Chinese pilot made three passes at the EP-3. On the third pass, he was coming in too fast. The tail of the jet -- one of the propellers on the left side of the U.S. plane made contact. Collision, according to this source, knocked the plane off of autopilot, and it then fell five to 8,000 feet before the pilot could bring it under control. Quigley said that it's too early to make a definitive judgment about the cause of the collision. That's the latest from the Pentagon.

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